The Classical Duke Ellington

Wendy Kirkland

Simon Lasky Group

Herts Jazz Festival 2018

Anders Helmerson

Recent Comments

Subscribe

A very quiet disclaimer

LondonJazz is a not-for profit venture, but may occasionally take on work as a paid publicist and/or sell advertising packages. Where a piece published after 26th October 2012 appears which is linked to this activity, the text will be followed by the following symbol: (pp)

A neuroscientist, a physicist and a biologist walk into a studio – and the outcome is a pretty tasty account of what they've been working on to achieve debut release First Flight. Dankworth Prize-winning composerChris McMurran (piano), Arvin Vaghela (double bass) and Alexander Blackwell (drums) lift their trio recording off the runway with seven originals and an interpretation of a popular standard, fronted by original cover art which appears to nod to the mathematical, graphic genius of M C Escher.

Trialogue was formed in 2015, the Cambridge scientists’ common connection informing this jazz definition of a three-sided conversation, with some compositions referencing appropriately scholarly subjects; and their combined influences are quoted as ranging from Oscar Peterson, Brad Mehldau and Avishai Cohen to Beethoven, Schnittke and Jimi Hendrix. A cursory listen across these accessible 57 minutes may imply standard piano trio fare. But rather than simply sitting back into routine progressions/changes, a written and improvisatory intent to create differing threads of interest becomes more and more discernable – it’s a particular strength.

A prime example is Chris McMurran’s standout number, Lunar, braiding bass-bubbling Balkan rhythms and crisp percussion with baroque-inflected piano – a snappy, animated dialogue which avoids predictability. Ground State’s subtle rock riffs and dynamic precision colour this blithe outing, whilst the climbing folk-rock phrases of Petrichor open out into spacial simplicity led by bright piano extemporisations. An exploration of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s My Favourite Things is less of a pull – perhaps it’s the melodic overfamiliarity (Coltrane and countless others have been there before), and the trio go on to prove that their own compositional invention is strong enough.

Extensive title track First Flight (written by Vaghela and loosely inspired by Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage) preens itself with newborn wonder and openness, described by the trio as a metaphor for this “leap from the nest and into the unknown”. Certainly, their creative potential – which might benefit from bolstering the harder-grooving streaks occasionally revealed – is unquestionable in an entrée album which is a pleasure to get to know.